Young Leadership

FES Kenya supports a social democratic political leadership of the next generation.

The Political Leadership and Governance Programme (PLGP)

The Political Leadership and Governance Programme emanates from FES Kenya’s renowned Political Leadership Development Programme (PLDP). Like its predecessor, the PLGP seeks to nurture and promote value-driven leadership for democratic governance in a democratic society. The focus is on young future leaders between 18-35 of age drawn from civil society organizations, trade unions and political parties. The training provides young leaders with skills, networks and expertise relevant for political leadership at different levels. The PLGP encourages young Kenyans to take on the shared democratic responsibility that will be needed to build the socially just and democratic Kenya that they and those they will represent in future want.

In 2007 FES Kenya and the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU-Kenya) launched an annual training programme targeting young trade unionists named “Global Outlook Trade Union School”. The school aims to provide knowledge and skills to officials and leaders of trade unions affiliated to COTU (K) and Trade Union Congress of Kenya (TUC-Ke). Topics of training at the school include: Labour Laws & Institutions, International Labour Standards, Computation & Interpretation of Wage Compensation Parameters, Collective Bargaining Principles & Practices, among others. Every year candidates, after passing a screening process, are trained in an intensive course over a period of one week. More than 300 participants have so far passed the training programme of the school.

Additionally, FES, COTU (K), and TUC-Ke invite the GOTUS alumni to an annual meeting which serves to raise topical issues and to strengthen the bonds among the alumni. Their reports support the trainers and designers of the curriculum in updating the training programme with a view to maximizing its usefulness for the actual work of trade unionist leaders. The alumni have made an impact in the management of trade unions, and quite a few have acquired positions such as General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, Branch Secretary and negotiators of collective bargaining agreements.

Alumni

Many graduates of both the Political Leadership and Governance Programme (PLGP) and Global Outlook Trade Union School (GOTUS) have taken on positions within various organizations in Kenya after completion of the respective programme. Upon graduation, both PLGP and GOTUS graduates have formed voluntary alumni networks to share knowledge and resources for furthering their own chosen causes towards achieving a socially just Kenya. Both alumni networks conceptualize, implement, and communicate about these activities independently of FES and therefore the views and actions of PLGP and GOTUS alumni networks do not necessarily reflect the stance of FES Kenya.